Feeding mechanism for carding-machines.



Patented Nov. 5,1901. 1 J. HOGG. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR CABDING MACHINES.

(Application filed Sept. 13, 1900.)

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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Nu. 686,07I. Patented Nov. 5, I90l. J. HOGG. FEEDING MECHANISM FORCARDING MACHINES.

(Application filed Sept. 13, 1900.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.

No. 686,071. Patented Nov. 5, I901. .1. HUGE.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR GARDING MACHINES.

(Application filed Sept. 13, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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UNI-TED STATES JAMES noes, OF AMSTERDAM, Nnw

PATENT Fries.

YORK,1ASSIGNOR To AMERICAN CARD FEEDING MECHANISM FOR CARDlNG-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,071, dated November5, 1901'.

Application filed September 13, 1900. Serial No. 29,868. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HOGG, of Amsterdam, in the county ofMontgomery, in the State of New York, have invented. new and usefulImprovements in Feeding Mechanism for Cardin g-Machines, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description. 1

My invention relates to a feed mechanism for carding-machines of a newconstruction and mode of operation in which the stock-- such as wool,cotton, or other fiber-is drawn out of the receptacle by two combsarranged one on each side, by which the fiber is main tained in the bestpossible condition without being rolled up or sorted and delivered inlight uniform locks continuously in the center between the combs, whereit may be received by any suitable 1nechanism-such as toothed rolls, atoothed apron, or scalefor transfer to the cards, pickers, washers,driers, or other mechanism.

The essential featuresare a gravity feed chute or receptacle havingopenings in its bottom, in which openings move toothedextractors todraft or draw out the stock. The bottom of the receptacle maybe of anysuitable construction. Preferably there are two series of parallelgrooves or slots, one each side, communicating with a common centralopen ing at right angles to the slots. In such a construction therewould be two series of extractors arranged on each side of the centralopening and at equal distances therefrom. Each series ofextractorsoperates in its corresponding series of slots, which may beformed by toothed cross-bars or bars of other suitable construction. Oneseries of extractors would operate, (in one series of slots;) but two,as here arranged, are much better.

In the drawings herewith and in this specification the same referencecharactersindicate the same parts in all the figures.

Figure I is a vertical cross-section of a feed mechanism, showing adesirable form of my invention. Fig. II is a top plan view with portionsshown in section and portions broken away. Fig. III is an end elevationshowing 50 the operating shafts, gears, &c. Fig. IV is a verticalsection showing diagrammatically a eoinbinationof my invention withanother form offdelivering mechanism. Fig. V is an enlarged plan of atoothed finger. Fig. VI shows in plan one end of a modified form ofcomb. Fig. VII shows in plan a portion of a modified form of grating.Fig. VIII shows a modified form of the comb, in which toothed disks areused as extractors instead of reciprocating fingers.

In the figures, lindicates the feed-box or gravity-chute towhich themixed wool or other fibrous stock is delivered by any suitable means.

2 2 are the end plates supporting the box and other parts of themechanism. The bottom of the box is composed of a grating of anydesirable form. In the grooves between its 'cross-bars reciprocate thetoothed fingers 3 3 of the feed-combs 4 e to draw out from the chute anddeliver the wool uniformly in very light fine open locks to thereceiving mechanism (without separating the different kinds ofstock)through the central opening A. The teeth of the fingers are hooked orinclined more or less toward the center to engage with the fiber. Thebottom of the box may be made of curved bars 5 5, having teeth 6 6,pointing inwardly and downwardly to prevent'the pushing back of the woolby the combs. These bars are sustained on shafts 7 7 by set-screws 8S,'permitting vertical adjustment of the bars, so that the teeth of thecombs, extending above them more or less, bring down a greater or lessamount of wool. Notc'hes 9 9 are formed in the end ofthe bars to engagewith any wool that may remain in the fingers as they are returning andclear them.

The toothed fingers or extractors 3 3 are arranged in two oppositeseries on the rockshafts 10 and 11, by which they are reciprocatedbetween the racks to engage with the Wool and deliver it substantiallyin the center. The comb and finger may be of any desirable form andprovided with a greater or less number of teeth arranged in one or moreseries on each fin ger. The fingers are cheaply and easily cut from asheet of metal and then secured to the shaft. The combs may be arrangedto operate together, bringing down the wool from both sidessimultaneously or ing of the resisting-roll.

alternately, as shown in Fig. I, which is better, deliveringcontinuously by alternate combfuls instead of intermittingly, bot-hcombfuls coming down together.

The combs or extractors may be of different forms and operated indifferent ways, the essential feature being the teeth extending upthrough the slots in the box-bottom and moved .to draft the stock. Theelements which make up the comb may be of any suitable form, such astoothed fingers secured to a rock-shaft or otherwise reciprocated orrotating toothed disks performing the same function.

To describe the other parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, arms 14 14of the combs or fingers are pivotally connected by links 15 15 to therocking guide-bars 16 16, whose supporting-arms 17 17 fit around theends of the resisting-roll shafts 18 18, as shown in Fig. I. Theserocking guide-bars form a second receptacle for the wool'and are rockedby their connection to the combs to press the W001 constantly butlightly toward the center, so that it is kept in a more compact anduniform condition, and a continuous supply is more uniformly deliveredby the spiked feeding and resisting rolls 20-20 to the first spikeddrafting-roll 22 on shaft 23, from which the wool is picked ofi by thefaster-moving second spiked drafting-roll 24 on the shaft 25.

26 is a wiping-roll or stripper-roll operating at a speed between thatof the feeding-rolls and of the faster drafting-roll to insure clean- Abur-guard 27 on shaft 28 may be arranged under the second drafting-rollfor cleaning the wool and preventing the passage of foreign bodies.

Fig. IV is a diagrammatic representation of an adaptation of myinvention, in whichthe combs and gravity feed-chute are arranged todeliver the stock without the feed ing or other spiked rolls directly toa scale,

- whence it is delivered by a continuous-apron to the card mechanism.The fingers of the combs are here indicated bya and b, respectively, soarranged and operated as to move alternately and. when reaching thelower position rest there momentarily till the other comb has come down,by which the stock is cleaned or stripped from the fingers of the first.In Fig. IV the comb a has moved down first and is timed to rest theremomentarily till comb b has come down. Comb a is now about to return todotted position for another supply of wool, during which time comb bwill rest in the position as shown. In this figure, 30 indicates areceiving-platform arranged on scales connected by a tripper to stop theoperation of the combs when the scales have received a sufficient weightof stock. This is then automatically delivered by the delivering-plate31 to the apron 32, on which it is uniformly compressed by thepresser-bar 33 and then carried to the carding mechanism. Thisarrangement is adapted to any situation where greater certainty isnecessary in feeding to deliver a uniform quantity of stock in a giventime.

The extractors and rolls are operated by any suitable mechanism, such asbest shown in Figs. II and III.

38 is main shaft journaled in bottom of frame carrying beveled gear 39.

40 is vertical shaft journaled at 41 41 and carrying beveled gears 42,43, and 44, the last meshing with gear 39. With gear 42 meshes gear 45,engaging with gears 46 46 to operate the combs through cranks 48 48,pitmen 49 49, and cranks 50 50 on shafts 1O 11. With gear 43 meshes gear51 on shaft 52, carryin g pinion 53,meshingwith feeding-roll gear 54 atone end. At opposite end both feedingroll gears 54 54 on shafts 18 18engage, thus operating feedingrolls. Gears 58 and 59 may be drawn'bychain 60 from pulley 61- and main shaft 38 from pinion on. the pulleythrough gears 62 and 63. I

While my invention relates, broadly, to the combs withtheir'spring-fingers operating in the slots in the bottom of the chute,yet the forms of these parts may be varied, the fingers and rack-barsmay each be cut or stamped from a single piece of metal, or, as shown inFig. V, the finger may be made of the arm 0, with the toothed platedriveted to its end, or, as shown in Fig. VI, an arm e may be secured toshafts 10 and 11 at each end carrying a solid continuous bar f, to whichis secured the toothed plates 01 d.

In Fig. VII is shown a variation in the form of the grating and bars,the bars being a part of the solid piece It, fitted to the shaft 7, inwhich slots jj are cut for the passage of the toothed fingers.

The guide-bars 16 16 are preferably operated as I have described, butmaybe disconnected from the combs and maintained stationary about in theposition of the left-hand rocking bar 16 in Fig. l.

In Fig. VIII is shown a construction in which the combs are made up ofseries of toothed rollers extending up between the bars. Theroller-teeth are inclined in the same direction as on the toothedfingers and the rollers are rotated, as shown by the arrows, to draftthe wool through the central opening.

The cotton, wool, &c. to be carded are generally blended of differentqualities or of different lengths of fiber, the separating or sortingout of these various qualities in the feed is very objectionable, theblended stock must also be freed from foreign matter, and the knottylooks or other portions be opened before feeding in order not to injurethe delicate card-clothing. Heretofore a spiked apron or roll has beenused, which imparts a rolling motion to the stock and tends to sort itout, so that where the stock is composed of long and short fibers mixedthe long resists the action of the comb or beater stripping off thesurplus, while the short drops off and back into the supply, and thelong stock is carried more readily to the card and the supply getspoorer and poorer the longer the intervals between the renewal of thesupply. It is a well-known fact among carders and mill men that'theevils attending the common practice .of feeding from one side of thesupply and combing and beating the surplus back has always made itimpossible to preserve the blend which has been so carefully manipulatedin the picker-room,

ment of receptacle and extractors the stock is brought down from thechute in small portions and in a very light open condition, so that itis supplied to the carding mechanism in the best possible condition andwith great uniformity.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protectby Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a feed mechanism for fibrous material, thecombination with a gravity feed-chute having a stationary bottom formedwith a central longitudinal outlet, and with parallel cross=slotsextending therefrom on each side to about the sides of the .chute, oftwo series of extractors supported below the bottom and extending intothe respective slots to comb out small portions of the fibrous materialthrough the outlet in light, open condition, and of means to operate theextractors.

2. In a feed mechanism for a wool-carding machine, the combination witha gravity feedchute having a stationary bottom uniformly inclined fromeach side downwardly toward the center and formed with a longitudinalchute-outlet along the lowest portion of' the bottom, and with parallelcross-slots extending from the longitudinal opening to about the sidesof the chute, of extractors supported adjacent to the bottom andextending into the respective slots to comb small portions of the Wooldown through the chute-outlet, and

of means to operate the extractors.

In combination ina feed mechanism for carding-machines, a receptacle forthe stock, a bottom therefor formed with a central, longitudinal openingextending from end to end and with two series of cross-slots of uniformlength extending from the central opening at right angles, one series oneach side; two series of toothed extractors supported adjacent to thebottom on each sideof the central opening and at equal distancestherefrom and ar ranged to extend through said slots, into thereceptacle; and means to operate the extractors, one in each of theslots, to draft thestock through the central opening.

4. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute having a bottom formed with cross-slots and with alongitudinal, central opening at right angles to said slots, oppositeseries of toothed fingers suitably supported below the bottom of thechute on each side of said longitudinal opening and arranged to move insaid slots, and means for reciprocating said fingers to comb down thestock from the chute through said central opening.

5. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute for receiving and temporarily retaining the stock, having itsbottom formed of two series of crossbars extending from the sides toabout the center and leaving a central opening between their ends, combssuitably supported on each side beneath the bars, each comb being formedof a series of toothed fingers keyed on a shaft and arranged to move inthe openings between the cross-bars, and means to rock said shafts andreciprocate the fingers to draw down the stock through the centralopening.

6. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, parallel shafts arranged on each side adjacent to its lowerend, aseries of toothed bars secured on each shaft adjacent to eachother and extending inwardly across the chute, temporarily to supportthestock therein and arranged to leave an opening between their adjacentends, parallel rock-shafts arranged beneath said bars, a series oftoothed fingers secured to each rock-shaft 'and arranged to move in thespaces between said bars, and means to rock said shaft and reciprocatethe fingers to comb down the stock from the chute.

7. In combination in afeed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, par

allel shafts arranged on'each sideadjacent to its lower end, a series oftoothed bars secured on each shaft adjacent to each other andextendinginwardly and downwardly across the chute, temporarily to support thestock therein, and arranged toleave an opening between their adjacentends, parallel rock-shafts arranged beneath said bars, 'a series oftoothed fingers secured to each rock-shaft and arranged to move in thespaces between said bars, the teeth on the fingers pointing inwardlytoward the opening, and means to rock said shafts and reciprocate thefingers to comb down the stock from the chute.

8. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, parallel shafts arranged on each side adjacent to its lowerend, a series of toothed bars secured on each shaft adjacent to eachother and ex tending inwardly and downwardly across the chute,temporarily to support the'stock therein and arranged to leave a narrowspace between their adjacent ends, the teethon said bars pointinginwardly, parallel rock-shafts arranged beneath said bars, a series oftoothed fingers secured to each rock-shaft, and arranged to move in thespaces between said bars, the teeth on said fingers pointing in- Wardly,and means to rock said shaft and reciprocate the fingers to comb downthe stock from the chute.

9. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, parallel shafts arranged on each side adjacent to the bottomthereof, a series of parallel crossbars adjustably keyed at their outerends to each shaft and having their inner ends extending adjacent tothose of the other series, parallel rock-shafts arranged beneath saidbars on each side, toothed fingers secured on said rock-shafts andarranged to move between the cross-bars, means to rock the shafts andreciprocate the fingers to comb down the wool from the chute, andparallel guide-bars arranged beneath the toothed fingers, forming asecond receptacle for the stock.

10. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, parallel shafts arranged on each side adjacent to the bottomthereof, a series of parallel toothed bars keyed at their outer ends toeach shaft and having their inner ends extending adjacent to those ofthe other series, parallel rockshafts arranged beneath said bars on eachside, toothed fingers secured on said rockshafts and arranged to movebetween the bars, means to rock the shafts and reciprocate the fingersto comb down the wool from the chute, and parallel rocking guide-barssuit- I ably supported beneath the toothed fingers and connected to therespective combs to move therewith and force the wool toward the center.

11. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute, parallel shafts arranged on each side adjacent to the bottomthereof, a series of parallel toothed bars keyed at their outer ends toeach shaft and having their inner ends extending adjacent to those ofthe other series, parallel rockshafts arranged beneath said bars on eachside, toothed fingers secured on said rockshafts and arranged to movebetween the cross-bars, means to rock the shafts and reciprocate thefingers to comb down the wool from the chute, opposite spiked feed andresisting rolls centrally arranged beneath the two fingers to receivethe stock, and means to rotate said. rolls.

12. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed=chute having its bot-tom formed of two series of crossbars eachseries extending from the side to about the center and leaving a centralopening between their ends, rock-shafts arranged on each sidebeneath thechute, a series of toothed fingers keyed to each shaft and arranged tomove in the openings between the cross-bars, means to rock said shaftsand reciprocate the combs to draw down the-stock through the centralopening, a pair of spiked ese,o'ii

feed and resisting rolls arranged beneath said opening to receive thestock, and one or more spiked draf tin g-rolls to receive the stock fromsaid resisting-rolls, and means for rotating the rolls.

13. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-machines, a gravityfeed-chute for re ceiving and temporarily retaining the stock, havingits bottom formed of two series of cross-bars extending from the sidesto about the center and leaving a central opening between their ends,combs suitably supported on each side beneath these bars, each combbeing formed of a series of toothed fingers keyed to a shaft andarranged to move in the openings between the cross-bars, means to rocksaid shafts and reciprocate the combs to draw down the stock through thecentral opening, a pair of spiked feed and resisting rolls arrangedbeneath said opening to receive the stock, one or more spikeddraftingrolls to receive the stock from said resistingrolls, a suitablecase inclosing said bars, combs and rolls, a main shaft journaledwithout said case, and gears on said shaft mesh ing with gears connectedwith the shafts of said rolls and combs to operate the parts.

14. In combination in a feed mechanism for carding-inachines,a gravityfeed-chute for receiving the stock, having its bottom formed of twoseries of cross-bars extending from each side to about the center andleaving a central longitudinal opening between their ends, parallelrock-shafts arranged on each side beneath said bars, toothed fingerssecured to said rock-shafts and arranged to move in the openings betweenthe cross-bars to draw down the stock through the central opening, apair of parallel shafts arranged beneath said opening, spikedresisting-rolls arranged on said shafts, one or more spikeddraftingrolls arranged beneath said resisting-rolls on shafts suitablyjournaled, a suitable case inclosing said feeding parts, a main shaft, avertical shaft suitably journaled on the exterior of said case andgeared to the main shaft, beveled gears on the vertical shaft, a chainof gears meshing with one of said bevel-gears and connected by cranks tosaid rock-shafts, a bevel-gear meshing with a second bevelgear on thevertical shaft and connected by a chain of gears to the resisting-rollshafts, a pulley and chain for operating the drafting-rolls, andconnections between the main shaft and the pulley.

15. In combination in a feed mechanism for fibrous material, afeed-chute having a cen .tral, longitudinal chute-outlet, a bottomhaving a series of parallel cross-slots on each side extending from thechute-outlet toward each side of the chute, a series of extractors oneach side extending into their respective slots to draft the wool inlight, ope-n condition from the mass through the chute-outlet, and meansto operate the extractors.

16. In combination in a feed mechanism for fibrous material,a feed-chutegradually widening toward the bottom having a central, longitndinalchute-outlet therein, a fixed bottom inclining from the side downwardlytoward the outlet and having a series of cross-slots on each sideextending from the outlet toward each side of the chute, a series ofextractors on each side extending into their respective slots to draftthe wool in light, open condition through the chnte-outlet,and means tooperate the extractors.

17. In combination in afeed mechanism for fibrous material, a feed-chutehaving a longitudinal chute-outlet,a chute-bottom formed with a seriesof cross-slots on each side extending from the chute-outlet toward theside of the chute, a series of extractors arranged below the bottom andon each side of the outlet, extending into thechute through theirrespective slots, toothed drafting-rolls, a pair of feeding andresisting rolls arranged on each side of the outlet and between thedrafting-rolls and the bottom,and means to operate the extractors andthe rolls.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto JAMES HOGG. Lf 8.]

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. WHITE, J. E. LARRABEE.

